It is well known that there are many olefinically unsaturated organic compounds which are essentially inert to a free radical polymerization process, either to form homopolymers or to form copolymers with conventional monomers such as methacrylates, acrylates, styrene and the like. The expression "being essentially inert" is taken to mean herein that these olefinically unsaturated molecules are not homopolymerized and that they copolymerize with conventional monomers at levels of less than ten mole percent, even when present in a tenfold excess relative to the conventional monomers.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,587,431 describes a method of preparing compositions of terminally unsaturated polymers by reinitiating the terminated ends of a terminally unsaturated oligomer with additional chain transfer catalyst (CTC) for further oligomerization.
Several publications have discussed the copolymerization of methacrylic dimers, but no mention is made of the "reinitiation" of the dimers involved. See D. M. Haddleton, et al., Macromolecules 29 (1996), p. 481ff; T. P. Davis, et al., Macromol. Theory Simul. 4(1995), p. 195ff; T. P. Davis, et al., J. Macromolecular Science-Rev. Macromol. Chem. Phys., C34(2) (1994), p. 243ff.
The invention herein described demonstrates the copolymerization of otherwise non-polymerizable organic molecules (herein referred to as "UO"), rather than oligomers or macromonomers, and the production of functionalized monomers and macromonomers from these UO's.